Sleep Apnea VA Rating: CPAP, Sleep Studies and the Service Link

Obstructive, central and mixed sleep apnea all fall under one diagnostic code, 6847, in the respiratory part of the rating schedule. For most veterans the rating turns on treatment, and above all on whether a doctor says you need a breathing device:

• 0% when a sleep study documents the disorder but you have no symptoms
• 30% when daytime sleepiness is persistent
• 50% when you need a breathing assistance device, such as a CPAP or BiPAP machine
• 100% for the rare cases involving chronic respiratory failure with carbon dioxide retention, heart strain known as cor pulmonale, or a tracheostomy

The move from 30% to 50% is the one that matters for most veterans. At 2026 rates it's worth $580.43 more a month for a veteran with no dependents.

You may have read that the VA wants to rate sleep apnea by how well treatment works. The VA did propose that change in 2022, but as of October 2026 it has not taken effect, so claims are decided under the criteria below.

VA policy is firm on this: sleep apnea must be confirmed by a sleep study before it can be service-connected. A primary care note that says "probable OSA," or a spouse who swears you stop breathing at night, can prompt the VA to schedule an exam, but it can't win the claim on its own.

Before you file, pull together:

• The full sleep study report with the diagnosis, whether done in a lab or at home when your clinician decided a home test fit your case
• The prescription or order for your CPAP or other breathing device, since the 50% level turns on a doctor finding the device medically necessary
• Any in-service sleep study, or sleep complaints in your service treatment records

If you were diagnosed during service or soon after you got out, say so clearly in the claim. A diagnosis close to separation makes the direct route much easier.

Directly, from symptoms you had in uniform

Sleep apnea often goes undiagnosed for years, so the proof is usually what people noticed. A roommate who complained about your snoring, a platoon sergeant who caught you nodding off in briefings, a spouse who watched you gasp at night during your last enlistment: their statements, plus a medical opinion that those signs were early sleep apnea, can carry a direct claim.

Secondary to another service-connected condition

Veterans with service-connected PTSD or other mental health conditions often claim sleep apnea as secondary, and the same goes for some other conditions. These claims live or die on the medical opinion. It needs to explain how the service-connected condition caused or worsened the apnea, with reasoning a rater can follow, and an opinion that simply says "at least as likely as not" with no explanation tends to fail. Worsening counts too: if a service-connected condition aggravated apnea you already had, the added severity can be rated.

Through weight gain caused by a service-connected condition

Obesity isn't a disability the VA rates. A 2017 VA General Counsel opinion, though, recognized that it can be a link in the chain. If a service-connected condition caused you to gain weight (a knee that ended your running, or medication with weight gain as a side effect), and that weight gain was a substantial factor in your sleep apnea, the apnea can be service-connected on that basis. Each link needs medical support.

Sleep apnea is not on the PACT Act presumptive list, so toxic exposure alone won't connect it.

The VA does not combine sleep apnea with most other respiratory ratings, including asthma and COPD. If you have more than one of those conditions, you get one rating under whichever is the predominant disability, and the VA can bump it to the next level if your overall breathing problems justify it. Chronic rhinitis and sinusitis sit under a different group of codes and can be rated alongside sleep apnea.

When sleep apnea does combine with your other ratings, the effect can be large. A veteran already at 50% who adds sleep apnea at 50% reaches a combined value of 75, which rounds to 80%. At 2026 rates that moves a veteran alone from $1,132.90 to $2,102.15 a month. Try your own mix in the VA disability calculator.